Children who are being bottle-fed require constant attention because of the tendency of the infants to throw the bottle onto the ground or to the floor which can result in messy spills as well as the necessity of continually sterilizing or cleaning the bottle after it has fallen to the ground or floor. This may occur particularly with infants who are seated in a high chair or a hopping cart, stroller or the like.
A number of devices are available which are adapted to be attached to an immovable object such as a high chair or a crib and which is secured to an object such as the bottle, pacifier or the like so that when the child throws down the object it is prevented from falling to the ground or floor and can be readily retrieved by the child or by an adult supervising the child.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,438 discloses a device consisting of a flexible strap having an adjustable loop on one end and a suction cup affixed to the loop at its opposite end for being secured to a surface such as a high chair, crib or the like. The adjustable loop is defined by one or more beads which are movable for defining the minimum and maximum size of the loop. This device is limited, however, by the use of the suction cup which requires a surface area which is relatively flat for proper and secure attachment of the suction cup. In addition, the required length of the flexible strap is such that a child may become entangled by the strap which can possibly result in injury to the child. Other similar devices are also on the market which incorporate a short flexible elongated member having a loop at one end which includes snaps for forming the loop and which carries means on the opposite end to secure the device to a baby's bottle. The elongated member is conventionally made out of woven polypropylene fiber and, although flexible, the elongated member is not resilient. To reduce the danger that an infant might be caught up in the elongated member and injure itself, the length of the elongated member is limited to the point that it, being non-resilient, may interfere with the infants ability to drink from the bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,793 describes another type of restraining device which requires attachment to the chair arms of a child's seat and is thus limited to use only in those situations where a pair of chair arms are available for attachment of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,772,801 describes yet another restraining device which requires the use of a complicated harness in which the entire bottle is enclosed. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,060,194 which is adapted for use in a crib and which employs a relatively long strap which can be used either in the crib or which can be looped around the body of a person feeding the baby for supporting the bottle when not in use. The length of the strap, particularly when used in a crib, would appear to pose a danger that an infant may become entangled in the strap. Also, the aforementioned devices utilize complicated harnesses for holding the object to be restrained, thus limiting the use of the device only to certain objects which will fit into the harness, such as a baby's bottle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,977,638 and 4,498,613 relate to restraining devices for supporting a bottle or other objects while the infant is being held. These devices are designed to be worn on the body of the person holding the infant.